ATTACHMENT REPORT

FIELD ATTACHMENT REPORT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ELDORET FARM FOR A

PERIOD OF TWO MONTHS.

DECLARATION

I declare this attachment report as unique with no plagiarism and never submitted in any other
institution.

DEDICATION.

I dedicate this report to the UoE specifically to the HoD school of Agriculture for giving me a
chance to enroll my attachment in the school farm. I feel grateful for the support you offered
towards my completion of my attachment. I appreciate the acceptance , knowledge and skills I
gained in that duration of two months.

ACKNOWLEGDEMENT.

My humble gratitude goes to the Almighty God for for giving me strength that enabled me go
through the entire process of attachment. I would also like to praise my supervisor for indulging
me with necessary skills practically in the farm.

VISION

To be able to attain clean adequate and affordable food produced in eco friendly environment.

MISSION

To sustainably manage our Agriculture with a aim of attaining Food Security.

VALUES

Passion

Professionalism

Innovation

Quality
INTRODUCTION

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture is a wide course offered in many Agriculture based

universities in Kenya. It is further divided into specific disciplines like crop science, horticulture,
extension, biotechnology and many others. All of these courses addresses challenges that affect
agricultural production in the country. Due to climate change, agriculture has been highly
affected this menace troubling the whole world which is global warming. Therefore attending to
these courses equips and enhance the learner with necessary skills and knowledge to come up
with suitable and affordable solutions to factors influencing in Agriculture production. Since
agriculture contributes to 30 of the GDP then there is need for enrollment on Agriculture
Education in our curriculum.

BACKGROUND OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ELDORET

The UoE is situated approximately 10km from eldoret town along Eldoret Ziwa road in
Uasingishu county. It was founded by the white settlers in 1946 where it was a large center for
training farmers. In 1984 it was converted to a Teachers training College. Later it was taken over
by Moi University and renamed Chepkoilel campus offering different disciplines. The campus
was later upgraded through legal notice and awarded charter in 2011. Since then it has been
growing more so in the school of Agriculture there is a better improvement. The school also has
adequate and arable land where it host farms that is for crop production and also livestock
production.

DEPARTMENT ATTACHED TO.

Since I was posted in the school for my attachment obvious I was supervised by HoD from the
school of Agriculture. All the activities In the farm are managed by the department of agriculture
where the managers are lectures in the department. They are selected from the agriculture field
since they are experts and work towards gaining profits. These sets a good example to us
students because it gives us hopes of opportunities in the future. Also having the farm in the
school it’s a privilege since it help us learn practically and gain necessary skills and knowledge
towards production.

OBJECTIVES OF THE FIELD ATTACHMENT.

 I. To expose trainee to the real work situations.
II. To complement and extend the trainee institutional experience
III. Enable produce competent student from the agriculture discipline
IV. To impact positive attitude towards work and ability for further self development
V. Provides trainee with an opportunity to enhance his or her skills
VI. To collaborate with stakeholders in the university for development partnership.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS.

Some of the tools used during the field attachment include

 Jembes
 Fork jembes
 Pangas
 Wheelbarrows
 Tapemeasure
 pegs
 Spade
 Rake
 Sacs
 Watering cans and hosepipes
 Knapsack
 Protective gears.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPERINCE

During attachment there were many activities that where carried out on daily basis others once or
twice depending on the type of the task. Mostly it was planting of various types of horticultural
crops such cabbages onions, Napier, capsicum, sweet potatoes, herbs and spices. In all these the
following activities where done

1. Land preparations.
Any planting starts with soil preparations whereby soils were dug thoroughly using jembes and
forkjembes. The portion of the land was first measured and marked so as to dig a specific area
for specific purpose. The soils where made ready for planting by breaking large hardpans using
jembes to make it fine tilth. Also during these preparations weeds where removed while digging
to ensure a clean bed where plants would thrive very first. Levelling of all the plots was also
done. Some of the plots were different like raised beds and sunken beds for specific crops. All
plots which were prepared measured 10 by 10 meters. This was one of the tedious activity but for
you to achieve high returns then land preparation is the key activity. Some of the advantages of
good land preparations include;

 Prevents soils and seedlings from being eroded by surface runoff

 Ensures free percolation and infiltration in the soils
 Remove all weeds to facilitate a clean bed
 Ensures principle of spacing is well adhered

Therefore there is need for early and good soil preparations before any planting.

2. Planting/Sowing

This is the act placing a seedling in the soil for the purpose of germination. During the
attachment period different crops were planted on specific dates depending on their maturity date
since we targeted Agricultural show to be held in the school. Some of the crops such as cabbages
onions capsicum pakchong Napier were planted earlier since they take about 3 months to mature.
Others like the vegetables where planted later after 2 months since their maturity is about a
month.

3. Watering

During planting there was shortage of rainfall and due to that we found other alternatives of
supplying water to the crops. For example we used hosepipes to direct water in the plots and
sometimes we used overhead sprinkles to save on time and cover a large area. There wasa
challenge in water supply but we still managed to irrigate all the crops with the help of little rain.

4. Manure/Fertilizer applications.
Well decomposed farmyard manure was collected from the cowsheds and was applied in every
plot before planting.the purpose of manure is that it improves soils structure as well as water
holding capacity. Ferterlizer was also applied during planting that is DAP since it contains
phosphorus which is necessary for root development. Other top dressing fertilizers such as urea
amd CAN where added later in a programme of after every week.

5. Weeding

In every fertile cultivated land there is always presence of weeds that germinate after planting.
Weeds are plants that grow in a place where they are not desired and therefore are considered
threat to the food secyrity. During the attachment we where able to identify some weeds in the
plots examples including blackjack , double thorn and grasses. Weeds have disadvantages such
as

I. Lowers the quality as well as the quantity of yields

II. Competes for light, space and nutrients with the crops
III. Some acts as immediate host for pest and diseases
IV. Some of the weeds are allelophathy
V. Some weeds are harmful to human.

However weeds also have some importances such as

I. Some weeds like the pigweeds are edible

II. Weeds help bind up soil particles together therefore improving
structure
III. Some weeds are used as medicinal values
IV. Some weeds are produce scents that scares away insects
V. Weeds improves soil fertility when cut and buried in the soil and
decompose

In the school farm we ensured the plots where free from all these weeds that may interfere with
the growth of the crops. There are many control measures for example chemical method, cultural
method. We employed hand method where uprooting was done to remove the weeds. To some
extend jembes and slashers were used so as to attain clean fields.
 6. Spraying

This is the practice of protecting seedlings from pest and diseases by placing chemicals after
planting or sowing in the field. This ensures that seedlings are not cut therefore guarantees fully
germination of the crops. Pest are major threats towards production and there one must be able to
understand entomology well. For example most of the pest which were present during planting
were cutworms, aphids and whiteflies. In cabbage field few seedlings where cut after two days of
planting an indication that was cutworms therefore an insecticide called Escort was sprayed and
since then there no cases of cut seedlings. In presence of aphid also similar insecticide was
sprayed to the blacknightshade and other vegetables. On the side of diseases such as blight on
the capsicum copperbased fungicides were sprayed to protect them from the didease and
responded well.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

MUSHROOM PRODUCTION

Mushroom production starts from preparation of compost where germination takes place.

The procedure of preparing the compost is as follows

1.Soaking wheat straws in water for a period of one week

2.Within the week, the straws are turned twice to enable evenly distribution of moisture while
also adding water after each turning

3. After that, materials such as urea , cotton seed meal cake , molasses , MOP and Gypsum are
added at two day interval while turning the compost

4. The amount of gypsum is added depending on the amount of water present in the compost that
is directly proportional and covered

5. Spreading of the compost is done after two weeks and spawns are broadcasted

6. Soil preparation is also done , where it is sterilized chemically by spraying a mixture of

Vestal , marshal and rodasm so as to kill microorganisms that attacked mushrooms at early
stages
7. After sterilization they are covered for 24 hours which after the soil is spread on the compost
placed in bags and arranged in bales

8. The soil is added about inch above the spawns

9. Germination occurs after two weeks where it is advisable to control temperatures by allowing
aeration at temperatures of 15 – 18 oc as this helps seedlings compact to form mushrooms

9. Relative humidity is maintained at 90- 95 percent during germination and this is attained by
pouring water on the floor of the house where bales are placed

10. After 10 days mushrooms are ready to harvest but they are fully matured at 13 days where
they are harvested and packed in punnets while fresh

Farmers may also choose to dry the mushroom to increase perishability duration which is about 2
years

PESTS

1.Mites which feed on mycelium

2. Flies

3. Snails which feed on fully grown mushroom

They can be controlled by use of insecticides like marshal

Incase of snails , one can apply salt or lime on snail

DISEAESES

1. Green mold
2. Yellow mold
3. Black mold
4. Pink mold
5. Cobweb

These diseases are controlled by the use of fungicide such as rodazine

INCREASING SOIL FERTILITY IN THE SOIL

Soil fertility is the ability of the soil to supply nutrients to the plants at the right time and form
the purpose of absorption .There are different ways of increasing soil fertility such as addition of
organic manure so as to increase soil structure by binding the soil particles together

Providing fertilizers in the soil avails nutrients to the soil in a readily available way

The learned technique of also providing fertility is by planting crops that help fix nitrogen in the
soil .Nitrogen is an essential nutrient required by plants in large quantities for vegetative growth

Different crops were planted were one was Mucuna and Sun hemp

SUNHEMP

It was planted 0n a10 by 10 and the spacing of 20 cm between the lines and seeds broadcasted.

After flowering the mucuna will be cut and buried in the soil for decomposition.

By doing so you will be increasing the organic matter and fixing nitrogen.

The ability of fixing nitrogen in the soil is due to the presence of Rhizobium bacteria in the roots
nodules that fixes nitrogen in the soil there by increasing fertility in the soil

Mucuna is a bean shaped variety of a legume that also has the Rhizobium bacteria in the root
nodules which helps in nitrogen fixation.

The other technique learned during the attachment period was production of vegetables by the
use of multi –store kitchen gardens.

This type of production favors persons who have limited spaces especially those in urban areas.

Materials used are made of plastic or nylon papers in a circular shape and other materials placed
above but with a smaller circumference to allow space for growing seedlings.

With time there has to be also gardens which are constructed fitted with an irrigation system so
as to reduce the time used to irrigate using a horse pipe .Therefore , this fitted with irrigation
system is more expensive compared to that without the irrigation system.

PHOTO
3. Huge or Kuilfure was also prepared as an Innovation method of production which is
economical;

This is a method that is mostly practiced in Germany which uses the locally available materials
to be used in production

It involves arranging of logs in horizontal layers where after a layer of mixture of manure and
soil and grass is placed before starting a layer.

These soils and grass helps in decomposition of the logs .These logs have a long residual effect
for nutrients due to slow rate of decomposition .This is efficient way of production of crops
organically without use of fertilizers thereby reducing the cost of production and increase
productivity due to high availability of moisture.

4. Growing of potatoes in 90 kgs sacks where the soil is mixed thoroughly with manure and DAP
.This type of production is a kind of innovation which can be used in the slums since materials
are locally available to produce food even in a very little space.

Top dressing of the potatoes in the sacks by use of CAN at interval of one week and maintaining
moisture in the soil.

There are challenges I encountered during the attachment but later resolved.

CHALLENGES FACED DURING ATTACHMENT

1. Water shortage; which was brought about by the low rainfall received in the region.
 Also the pipes providing water in the farm plot burst thus causing leakages that took a
long time to repair.
2. Destruction of crops in the demo plots by livestock which would feed and escape in
the shades at night thereby interfering with the maize plots for research. The solution
to this was to fence with new posts to restrict livestock from the farms

CONCLUSION

This report appreciates the University of Eldoret who are the stakeholders as they have
contributed to the success of my attachment for 2 months. The effectiveness of my attachment
duration was catalyzed by passion, attitude and motivation from my supervisor.

As a result, I benefited from the skills and knowledge I acquired through the work. Through the
new experience and skills, I believe through team work, self-development and collaboration.

RECCOMENDATIONS

1. Provision of adequate water for irrigation in the farms to avoid delays and instant
repair of burst pipes to ease inconveniences in the farm.
2. Allocation of more plots to enable more students to be attached in the university
farms.
3. Opening of land by tractors to help in breaking the hard pan and reduce the time taken
in preparing the lands.